Edwin d



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN \VASSELL, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANN ISABELLAWASSELL, OF SAME PLAQEJ METHOD OF TREATING IRON OR STEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 376,421, dated January10, 1888.

Application and March 12, 1887.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN D, WASSELL,

I a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the countyof Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Methods of Treating Steel or Iron; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same,

My invention relates to the treatment of steel in rails, bars, piles,fagots, blooms, or ingots, and has for its object the production of asuperior quality of steel from which the carbon has been eliminated toany desired extent. It is not, however, limited in its application tothe treatment of steel, as practice has demonstrated that iron may betreated in like manner and its qualities improved, in that it becomestougher and more malleable.

The invention will be hereinafter described, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical transverse sectionon line 22 of Fig. 1.

Reference being had to the drawings and the letters marked thereon, Arepresents a furnace, the lower part of which is formed of boiler-iron,a, and rests upon a saddle, b, which is pivotally secured to the bases12 0, which are secured to the masonry of the furnace in the usualmanner. At one end of the furnace is attached a gear-wheel, d, andpinion 6, and upon the shaftf, which supports the wheel d, is alsomounted a wheel, 5/, which engages with a rack, h, attached to theboileriron a of the furnace, and at the opposite end the furnace restsupon rollers i, which run upon tracks is, (only one of which is shown,)attached to the part a.

The crown lot' the furnace is formed of firebrick, while the bottom atis made of a composition of pulverized iron ore, about two parts, andone part of pulverized fire-brick, or a sufficient quantity thereof toform a band between it and the iron ore B represents furnace-doorsthrough which the metal to be treated is charged and re- Serial No.230,627. (No model.)

moved. At each end of the furnace I have shown an air-chamber orregenerator, C, common to metallurgical furnaces, which may be air fromthe regenerator O are mixed in ports 1) as the gas issues from theorifice q and the air enters from the regenerators. The furnace may,however, be heated, inthe usual manner of-heating reverberatingfurnaces, by simply providing a furnace to be supplied with solid fuel.

The objectin providing a furnace with a bottom of iron ore is to supplya metallic oxide to the metal treated in the slag-bath, the oxide beinggiven off by the iron ore and absorbed by the heated metal in the bath,where it combines with the metal. The bottom m of the furnace is renewedas it wears away, thus keeping up the supply of metallic oxide to themetal treated, and the bottom is formed by simply depositing alayer ofthe composition on the boiler-iron a and semi-liquifying it by heat.Another layer is then added, which cools the first layer and solidifiesit. One layer after another is added until the required thickness hasbeen obtained.

In working the furnace the composition is protected by the slag whichcovers its surface.

The method of preparing the bath or flux is not herein claimed, but willform the subjectmatter of another application for a patent.

The apparatus described forms no part of my invention, but is usedmerely to illustrate a means for carrying out my method claimed.

Theoperationis as follows: Broken or granulated blast or puddlingfurnace, cupola, hammer, or glass slag is charged into the furnace andsubjected to heat until it liquefies and a bath is formed of sufficientdepth to cover a number of piles, fagots, or ingots. The furnace is thentilted to one side, which causes the molten slag to run over to theopposite side of the furnace and leave the elevated side of the bottomfree from slag. Piles, fagots, or ingots of metal-suoh as steel oriron-are then charged into the furnace through the doors B and placed inposition on the bottom at, where they are heated to about a cherryredheat. The furnace is then adjusted until the slag has run back, foundits level, and covered the metal to be treated; or the furnace may thenbe tilted up on the opposite side, the slag run over the piles,completely immersing them, while the side free from the slag is chargedwith piles or fagots, as in the first instance.

By operating the furnace in the aforesaid manner it may be workeddouble-that is to say, while one side is being charged the piles on theopposite side maybe sufficiently heated to reduce the carbon for thepurposes to which the metal is intended to be applied. 'While the metalis immersed in the slag metallic ox ide from the iron ore is absorbed bythe metal and combines therewith. The metal is re taincd in the moltenslag from twenty to forty minutes, according to the extent to which itis desired to eliminate the carbon.

The supply of iron ore in the bottom, in, of the furnace is kept up bytilting the furnace to one side and fresh ore spread over the surfacewhere it has been wasted away, then tilting the opposite side andrepairing it in like manner. The intense heat of the furnace or the heatof the liquid slag will scmi-liquefy the iron ore in a very little timeand cause it to form a new surface for the piles to lie upon.

In the practice of my invention it has been demonstrated that steeltreated by my process forms a homogeneous weld under pressure either ofrolls or an ordinary hammer, and the welding qualities of the steel aregreatly augmented, which qualities are retained by the steel, so that itmay be worked in a blacksmiths fire under as high a degree of heat as isusually applied to wrought iron for working it.

In working steelthe product of my invention-it can be welded without theapplication of chemical compounds, generally applied in welding steel.Furthermore, by submerging the metal in slag it is protected from oxidation caused by the atmospheric air coming in contact with the surface ofthe metal when worked in the ordinary way, thus effecting a great savingof metal.

In heatingingots of Bessemer or openhearth steel in ordinaryreverberatory furnaces the waste caused by oxidation of the metalamounts to from ten to twelve per cent, while in my process it isreduced to the minimum, rarely ever exceeding two per cent.

By making the furnace adjustable horizontally the workmen are enabled toregulate the depth of the slag-bath on either sidethat they may beworking on, so that in removing the piles or fagots they can always keepthem covered yet at the same time hold the slag in such a position thatthey can see the ends of the piles next to them lying in the slag, andthus facilitate their removal from the furnace. After one row of pileshas been removed the furnace is tilted a little more until the outerends of the piles of the next row are disclosed. By running the slagover from the side from which the piles are being removed the depth ofthe slag is increased on the remaining piles, which protects them fromthe intense heat of the furnace until they can be reached and re moved,and thus prevents any injurious effects which might otherwise beproduced upon them by the heat.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The methodof treating steel or iron, which consists in heating piles, fagots,blooms, or ingots in a bath of molten slag and combining a metallicoxide therewith, substantially as described.

2. The method of treating steel or iron,

which consists in charging piles, fagots, blooms, ingots, or bars into afurnace, heating the same to a cherry-red heat in the presence ofametallic oxide, and finally snbmcrging the metal in molten slag andcontinuing the heating thereof in the presence of a metallic oxide whilein the slag until the carbon has been sufficiently reduced,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWIh. D. \VASSELL. \Vitnesses:

S. A. PERRY, D. O. RnINoHL.

